Archive for sean johnson

Thank you to everyone who participated in our reader poll. I felt confident that we would have at least fifty readers, and I secretly hoped for at least a hundred. I was pleasantly surprised just how many people indicated they are readers of our blog! I know in the grand scheme of things 134 is not that much, but it is meaningful to us that there at that many people who take the time to read what we write.

I used random.org to generate a random number and whoever thumbed the post in that position was the winner. It generated #9 and that is

I wanted to share a couple of quick thoughts from the results of the poll.

1. It seems that our most popular thoughts are the ones where we share our thoughts on games. A couple of times as a way to play older games more we have done session based posts (like the game cup). Those are less popular, but they get us playing games.

2. I will try to get my wife to write more posts. The issue is that she does not think about games as much as I do. This means while driving she will not start thinking about something like "the best zombie games I have played". I have a couple ideas of questions that might prompt her. Since hearing more of her voice was far and away the thing people wanted more of, we will try to do that.

3. We will try to review more newer games. We can not purchase all the new games, but we might be able to borrow some every now and then for the purpose of writing about it.

4. We will absolutely be sticking with text, and it was nice to hear that a written blog fills a niche. I do not remember the exact quote that really had me thinking this (or where I heard it), but there seems to be the impression that only people who do podcasts or videos are "real reviewers". I suppose the video question was spawned by wondering if video was the only way we could achieve any kind of legitimacy. However, seeing just how many readers we actually have and seeing that you all overwhelmingly prefer to read what we write is enough validation for me.

5. I do find it some what bemusing that 20% of the people who read our blog tend to completely disagree with us.

Finally, I wanted to remind everyone that this Wednesday (7/29/15) will be the Too Many Games Meet Up at Gen Con. starting at 1PM I will spend a few hours at the Convention center food court off of Maryland street with a bag of games ready to play. I will be wearing this shirt:

And more importantly, I will have cookies (seriously, I got the supplies today!)

Thanks again for joining my wife and I on our gaming journey, and I look forward to meeting a couple of you in a few days!

My wife recently made the comment that I am not as excited about Gen Con this year as I have been in previous years. She's right.

Now, that does not mean that I am not incredibly excited about Gen Con. However in previous years by this point Gen Con is seriously all I could think or talk about. I think there are three reasons why my excitement is not as explosive this year.

First, I do not have a big event to be excited about. Last year, I was most excited about a big Federation Commander player get together on Wednesday. However, I can not do that this year because my son has kindergarten open house. In 2013 I was really excited about the Warhammer Invasion North American championship because I felt that my deck could go all the way (it finished second). In 2012 I was excited about playing True Dungeon with friends. In 2011, it was learning to play Empire Builder with my wife. We are doing several events this year and we have a lot of variety in our events. Most of them are things that can only happen at Gen Con. The event I am most excited about is participating in a panel about organizing a game group, but I am also a bit nervous about that one. Still, there is not an event this year that has me bouncing off the walls in anticipation.

Along with this, I am not running a RPG session this year. In previous years, Gen Con was my one time a year to GM. A lot of my Gen Con excitement energy went into making this adventure truly remarkable. Seriously, I would start planning in February so I went all out. However, I finally get to play role playing games regularly again. I missed purposely exploring a new RPG system and making a killer adventure this year, so I might do that again next year.

Second, is the crowd. I know a lot of people who felt Gen Con was just too crowded last year. I tried not to let the crowds get to me because as I said last year, I know that I am someone else's crowd. Last year Gen Con had a bit over 56,000 people and it really did feel crowded. I read/heard somewhere they are expecting 60,000+ this year. I try to have a high toleration of crowds, because I remind myself all these people are here for the same reason I am. Still though, I have a little anxiety that this year the sheer amount of people is going to be more than I can handle. I guess specifically, I am worried that the number of people is going to put a big drag on doing things, especially in the main exhibition hall.

Finally, how crowded the main hall will be is a downer for me. They increased the size of the hall last year, but the same number of people want to still go to the same big name publishers, so more space did not alleviate the crowds from the in-demand games. What it did do though was make it hard to see everything. Last year was the first year I suffered from FOMO (fear of missing out) at Gen Con, because I ran out of time and I was not able to fully walk through the exhibition hall. While it was a minor frustration last year, the memory of it has grown bigger in my mind. This might be the single biggest reason why my excitement is down a little. This year, I am going to make a list of the games I really want to see, map out where they are, and go there first. I need to pick the two or three demos I really want, and I just need to be willing to wait those out. I then plan on wondering around the small game booths in the back because there are less people there. I just need to come to peace I am not going to see everything. That is OK, because once you have seen one booth of leather corsets and cat costumes, you have seen them all.

Speaking of the games I want to check out, my list got bigger. I went back through the Gen Con preview geeklist to see what had been added and I found five more games that I want to check out. They are, of course, listed in descending order for dramatic effect:

Zombies!!! was my first non-mass market game, so I know exactly what I am getting. Zombies is not really my thing anymore, but I could really see it being my son's thing. Thanks to minecraft he knows what zombies are and I know he would love a game where he gets to fight them.

4. 20th Century LimitedRight now Jeff Horger is two for two for me, so I am interested in checking out any game he makes. A lot of comments for this describe it as a step up from Ticket to Ride, one of my wife's favorite games. I know we are going to the Rio Grande room anyway to try and play with the new Roll for the Galaxy expansion, but we will need to look into this game as well.

I think this game might have a strong purchase potential for us. I like the archaeology theme, and it is a game that uses dice allocation as its main mechanic. A few people have already played it and the comments really make it sound like something we will enjoy.

2. Eminent Domain: MicrocosmI know this game is already available, but we will for sure look into it at Gen Con. A two player only, quick playing card game set in space? That really sounds like an auto-buy for us.

Speaking of games set in space, long time readers of the blog probably know I love space combat games. This is one that looks to lean more towards euro style mechanics instead of wargame mechanics. That means it is a space combat game my wife might actually play with me, and that is something that requires looking into.

We have been blogging for fairly consistently for three and a half year. In fact, this is our 603rd post,so I think we have been fairly prolific. We have had a lot of fun doing this, and we are curious how many readers we have and what you all think. I know if you want someone to do something, you have to provides incentives, so that is what we are doing! We are going to give one of our readers a copy of High and Tight. For chance for a free game, here is what you have to do:

Step 1 If you are a regular reader of our blog, please thumb up this post, so we know who you all are.

This post is mostly for the benefit of my wife. The Gencon math trade ended yesterday. This is what we are getting rid of and what we are getting in return. If I tell her what we are getting it does not mean much, but doing so with a picture helps immeasurably. From here on, I will be writing as if talking to her. Feel free though to peak in and give your own comments.

This is a trade you will not care much about. You did not like either game we are getting rid of, and the game we are getting is a social deduction group game. You will probably never play it, but I should be able to get a lot of use out of it. You will be happy that we are getting rid of a big box for a small box.

I was a little surprised earlier this year when you said you wanted to trade Copycat, but I do agree with you that for us it is a bit played out. I am very happy with this trade. Zombie 15 is a real time game like Escape: The Curse of the Temple only with Zombies. This will be a great game for Zombie day this year.

Titan Tactics was the main game we were trading for. This is the kind of two player duel game, that I (and you to a lesser degree) really like. Terra Prime just came along for the ride, and that is a good thing. The title sounds familiar and that is because we use to have the game. However, we played it once five and a half years ago. Due to environmental issues it was not a good play, you got frustrated, and wanted to trade it. In the past five years you have come to really like pick up and deliver games so I think you will like it a lot more now.

and its expansion. Speaking of five years ago, I played this game at GenCon five years ago. I liked it then and added it to my want in trade list. I am looking forward to trying it again, but I am a little concerned that my gaming preferences may have evolved away from games like this one. You are probably asking then why trade for it and the answer is the weird west theme is irresistible. On the plus side, it is a smaller box.

I am so, so excited about this! Fortune and Glory is a pulp adventure game (think Indiana Jones) by the same people who make A Touch of Evil and Last Night on Earth. This is a game I have wanted for like four years but the price tag kept me away. Of all the games we are getting this is the one I am most excited about.

. I honestly do not know a lot about this game. I remember a few years ago it got played at a couple of game nights in a row. It looked really fun, and the people who played it said it was. I wanted to play it the next time it got brought out, but that never happened. I guess it will happen now.

. Yes, those are war games. Yes there are three of them. Please do not get mad, and let me explain. There were a TON of copies of Doomtown Reloaded up for trade. I knew if I wanted to trade it I had to be a bit loose with the list. Tac Air is the very first war game I ever played. This is the game that introduced me to hex and counters, and even though I will probably be playing it on my own I am excited to play it again. What is even cooler is this copy is the very same copy that I originally played, because I am getting these games from my old college roommate. The other two are probably games I will someday use for the Wargame chain of generosity I participate in.

. You really did not like Ninja, so maybe you will like racing Frogs better? This is a quick playing, lighter game that still offers choices. It has great components and is supposed to be a decent family game.

. I have played Dark Gothic, and I liked it well enough. It is a deck building game that is more in the Ascension vein than Dominion vein. The theme is very appealing to me, because it is based on A Touch of Evil. I am happy with this trade. Dark Gothic is not a game I wanted to buy, but it is one that I wanted to trade for. It is also a much better game than X-Files.

We got this game earlier this year in a math trade. The game we were trading had a fairly low value to us, so we were not picky. I knew very little about this game going into it other than I like two of the designers previous games (Revolution! and Kingdom of Solomon). Due to our 10x10 challenge and other gaming activities, this game sat several months without getting played. Now that we finally played it does this game ship the fun or is it up the canal without a remo?

Game OverviewIn this games players are going to be building various types of buildings and then by connecting those buildings to resources and the harbor, scoring those buildings. The game is played over the course of four rounds.

Each round is driven by drafting. Players will have a hand of cards and each card has two options. The top is a tile that can be built. The options are unique buildings, parks, or canals. The bottom of the card is a "scheme" that will often give the player money, points, extra secret mission cards, or some other benefit. Each player will select one of the cards, and pass the rest. Then in turn order they resolved the card by either choosing the top or the bottom.

All buildings have a monetary cost that must be paid to build it. The building can be played anywhere on the grid board as long as it does not overlap another tile. Most buildings have an immediate benefit that resolves when the building is played. Industrial buildings will score points once the building is connected to the required resources, and connected to a harbor. For a building to be connected it must be adjacent (touching the required tiles) or it must be able to draw an unbroken line via canal tiles to the required tiles.

After each player has resolved their card they take the cards passed to them and repeat this process until all the cards are drafted and resolved. This is done four times. Players will also be scoring points from secret mission cards that give points if certain conditions are met. At the end of the game the player with the most points wins.

Our ThoughtsAs a reminder we rate games on our own 5 point scale. When our scores are added together, it is where we as a couple theoretically rate the game on the BGG 10 point scale.

My Rating: 1.5 (do not like)My Thoughts: I really did not care for this game. It was kind of boring. Maybe we are not cutthroat or clever enough for this game, but it panned out in a very anti-climatic way where one big canal (that I built due to my guild's mission) made it easy for everything to be connected. Without having a lot of familiarity with the game in advance it is easy to make critical mistakes, so this game is not very new player friendly. Finally, the mission cards add a lot of randomness. Someone might get one that is nigh impossible to complete, while another player practically gets free points.

Her Rating: 1.5 (do not like)Her Thoughts: This game is boring and not very fun. We already have several really fun city building games, and several different really fun drafting games. I do not want to waste my time with a game that is not good at either of those elements.

VerdictCombined Rating: 3 We really just did not like Canalis. Looking at the BGG comments, this game has its fans so maybe it is just us. Either way, this game is a for sure math trade entry.

We have too many games. There are some games that sit on the shelf unplayed for a while, sometimes years. We plan on playing every game we have not played for two years or more, and that one play will determine if the game stays or if it gets purged to make room for something else.

When I first started getting really active on BGG, this is a game that quickly rose to the top as a game of interest. We never got around to buying it, but I was happy to trade for the game in 2012. Unfortuantly, it has been sparsely played with our last play being right at two years ago. So does this game still cut through the competition or does it fail to deliver?

Brief Game OverviewThis is a fairly unique worker placement style game where players are building and delivering swords to the castle. The board consists of a path that moves from the cathedral to the castle.

On a player's turn they can do one of three things. Draw cards, place one of their market tiles, or move. When a player draws cards they take two cards from the deck. When a player places a market tile they take one of their tiles and place them somewhere on the board.

The major action is moving. When a player moves they must play a card and move the number of spaces indicated. The player must end on a space that has a market tile present, if there is not one they can play another card as long as it is the same number already played. When a player lands on a market space they can interact with it. The player can then play another movement card to move the same worker or another as long as they play the same movement number already played.

There are four types of market tiles. One gives players steel, and another gems. The third allows players to craft swords by spending their resources. The final tile type allows a player to train. When two players occupy the same space their is a duel. A player who has trained is more likely to win this duel which is resolved by card flips.

It is possible to land on a market tile owned by another player, but using that tile will require paying the owner by giving them a card of a certain value. There is also one spot on the board to buy artwork, which is an additional way to score points.

The game ends when one player has moved three of their workers to the castle. Players score points for artwork, for swords delivered, and extra gems collected. The most points wins.

What We Previously ThoughtWe both thought this game was very unique. I liked the balance between being strategic and being fast. My wife thought the game was very accessible.

VerdictMy Verdict: KeepMy Rationale: This is a very unique game and it is unlike anything else we have. We have played enough games at this point, to begin feeling like a lot of games have a "me too" quality as they play similar to each other. there is no other game I can say this one is like, and that is a great thing.

Her Verdict: Go Either Way Her Rationale: This game is fun, and it is unique. It just does not blow me away. I am fine keeping it, but if we traded it I would not lose much sleep.

Final Judgement

Keep

If we both like the game, it does not make sense to roll the dice in a trade and get a game we might like less. It is worth mentioning that this game is a prime illustration that we have too many games. It routinely gets passed over and we have only played it six times now in three years. Hopefully we can remember to dust it off a bit more often.

GenCon is now less than a month away, and I am very excited. I know in a couple of weeks it is going to be hard for me to think about anything else. I have spent a decent amount of time already looking over Gen Con 2015 Preview.

There are a few games that are not on this list. For example, I have a copy of One Night Revolution reserved for pick up on Thursday. I also already know that if I can get a copy (without running in the opening mad rush) I will be getting a copy of Tajemnicze Domostwo. I also noticed that there are a LOT of games that are meant to be impulse buys. These are quick playing card games at a low price point like Eminent Domain: Microcosm. I think I only included one of those games on the list. I will probably end up making one such impulse purchase, but those are not the game I am necessarily excited about going into it.

GenCon is not as much about finding the new hotness for me as it use to be, but I will still be checking out several games. The games on this list are the ones that I will be making sure to check out. As always, the list is in descending order for dramatic effect.

Growing up, Star Wars and Ghostbusters were the two pillars that defined my childhood. I liked the ghostbusters movie, but I LOVED the cartoon. Seriously, I watched every episode multiple times. A lot of people were turned off that this game was more inspired by the cartoon version of the license and not the movie, but for me that was a positive. I almost backed this game when it was on kickstarter. I passed because cryptzoic has a spotty track record for us and it is a co-op. I doubt this will ever be a purchase for us, but I badly want to play it. I will really be trying to get into a demo of this game.

9. Heavy SteamWow, this sounds like my kind of game. It has so many elements that appeal to me. I love the idea of being able to customize and create my own mech. It sounds like this has a power management system at its core which is akin to Federation Commander. The game is also attempting to be a bit of a sandbox experience with multiple play modes and a lot of replayability. I am not sure if this game will have a playable demo, but I can hope.

8. Tides of TimeOf the impulse buys I think this has the highest potential to be a buy for us. It is a two player drafting game, that plays in ten minutes, and has set collection. That one sentence pitch has enough of the right keywords, to make it an auto-buy for my wife.

Ten years ago now my wife and I took a once in a lifetime trip to Scotland. Of all the places we visited, the Isle of Skye was probably our favorite. My wife was extremely excited to hear about this game, and I know it is a must demo for us. The reason why it is so low on this list though, is because I am a little concerned about how well it will play with just two.

6. City of GearsI had considered getting the Gamecrafter version of this a year and a half ago. This is another of the euro games that combine a bunch of different mechanics to make something new. I also think the theme looks good. This game is supposed to be available for demo, so I will be looking for an open spot.

5. Dice CityI know that this is not the first game to do this, but I like the idea of a "dice crafting" games. I think it could be fun to switch dice faces. It sounds a bit gimicky, but dice rolling is inherently fun. Being able to manipulate odds by actually changing the dice face sounds like a fun and unique way to actually go about it.

I like the frantic pace of Escape: The Curse of the Temple. I have a lot of fun playing it, but I also think competitive is always more fun than co-op. This game takes the frantic, CD driven real time gameplay that games like Escape has and makes it competitive. That sounds like a winner to me.

3. The Great Dinosaur RushWhen I was growing up, I really liked dinosaurs. There were a couple of educational video we had that really talked a lot about the discoveries made during the era this game is set in, and these videos kind of gave a kid friendly history of paleontology. I watched them a lot, and I wanted to be a paleontologist, because I had the sense that being a paleontologist had a lot of adventure and discovery to it. That kind of faded as a career ambition when I realized paleontologists were not like Indiana Jones looking for dinosaur bones. Even though it was a lot of bad science, there was adventure during the Bone Wars. I think it sounds like a great setting for a game. After reading the description of the game, I am a little worried about the two player game though.

2. The Village CroneIt really seems that potion brewing is the new hot theme. I really like that euro games are becoming more and more thematic. This game looks to be very evocative of its theme. It also features a modular board which I think always helps with replayability. I know this game is premiering at GenCon with a lot of buzz, so it might be hard to get a demo in.

This is a game that has an extremely high purchase potential for us. We really love it when card games include mechanisms that make it so cards have different uses depending on the context. This game looks do that in an interesting way by having cards give different abilities based on how they are placed. I also know since this game is thematically tied to Berserk: War of the Realms it will have incredible artwork. It is not known if it will be available for purchase, but their booth will be an absolute stop for me on Thursday.

A game that my wife and I both had fun playing a few years ago was Nuns on the Run. The problem is that for the game to be fun, it really required 4 to 5 people minimum. It was just too hard for us to ever get to play it, so we traded it a couple of years ago. I really liked the whole hidden movement concept, so this game popped out as something that could be interesting. We finally were able to get this game as part of the Geekway to the West math trade. So does this game achieve great honor or should it commit seppuku?

Game OverivewIn this game one player takes the side of the intruders and the other player takes the side of the guards. Each intruder will have to complete an objective and escape, while the guards are seeking to stop them. The game can be played up to four with two intruder players and two guard players.

There is some extensive setup to this game. First the intruders select the cards they are using. Second, the guards will pick 24 cards from their deck to be their starting hand. Then the guards will set up sentries, patrols and mark hidden information on their map sheet (including the objectives).

On the guard's turn they can draw new cards if the alert level is up. They can then play listen cards to see if any of their sentries can hear an intruder. If they can, then they can begin playing search cards to move towards them. If the guards get in the same space as the intruder then they can play an attack card. Two or three attack cards is all it takes to kill the intruder play. The guard player could also play cards to awaken sleeping sentries and increase their numbers on the board The final thing the guard player does is move patrols along their patrol path. Anything that is done that gathers information about the intruder such as hearing or finding them will raise the alert level.

On the intruder turn they may move 0,1,2, or 3 spaces. How many spaces they move will determine how many spots away a guard can hear from. The intruders have cards to play, but they have much less. Once an intruder card is used it is gone. All of the intruder movement is secret and is marked on a map sheet. The intruder has cards like rope that can allow them to move over walls. If the intruder moves through a space with a guard, an attack card can kill the guard.

The board has two castles, and inside the castles the intruder can search for the objectives. At any point on their turn, the intruder can ask what in up to two castle locations they moved through. In addition to objectives there can be traps or even hidden guards. If the intruder finds the objective letter that corresponds with their secret mission, they have completed it and they must escape.

If the intruder player completes their objectives and moves off the board they win. If the guards prevent this, they win.

Our ThoughtsAs a reminder we rate games on our own 5 point scale. When our scores are added together, it is where we as a couple theoretically rate the game on the BGG 10 point scale.

My Rating: 4 (like it)My Thoughts: This game capture the theme perfectly. It feels like a Ninja game. I like how the guards start at clueless, but it only takes a couple of hints before the Ninja is in hot water. The game can be a little fiddly with all of the secret movement, and one mistake can harpoon the whole game. Still, I really enjoyed just how much the components and mechanics worked together to really bring out the theme.

Her Rating: 1 (do not want to play again)Her Thoughts: I can not say anything nice about this game. It is slow and plodding. It is frustrating, annoying and completely not fun. I really never want to play this game again.

VerdictCombined Rating: 5 It has really been awhile since we have differed this much on a game. My wife really did not care for it, and I do not see me wanting to get this played enough to justify keeping. We will be looking to trade it, and I will be looking to play in a game of Specter Ops soon.

2015 is now more than half over, and I have played very few 2015 releases at this point, because I am busy catching up with games released last year. There really are too many games, and it is impossible to play them all.

These are the games of 2014 that I have not played but most want to play, and public opinion seems to indicate they are some of the best releases of that year. A lot of these games are ones that when I mention I have not played it, I get "how have you not played this yet" look. I am a little hesitant to make this list. I made a similar list last year, and since then I only managed to play one game from that list.

Hopefully, I will do a bit better at getting the 2014 games played. These are the games from 2014 that I have not played that I most want to play listed in descending order for dramatic effect.

10. DiamondsGrowing up in Indiana, I have played a lot of trick taking card games in my life, specifically Euchre. I really like the concept of this game where a trick taking game gets a very gamer's game mechanic of specific suit actions. It sounds like a neat concept, and one that I will probably enjoy.

I have avoided the whole Legendary game system, because I am not a fan of cooperative games. However, I want to give this one a try. I like Aliens, and one of the things mentioned often about this game is how thematic it is. Due to the coop nature this is not one I will buy right out on theme alone, but I would love the opportunity to play it.

8. Doomtown: ReloadedDoomtown is one of those old CCGs that I had always wanted to play because I thought the poker mechanism sounded really neat. At Gen Con last year this was a game I really wanted to demo, but it was never available when I was around. Fortunately, of all the games on this list I am most likely to play this one. We have a copy, and I just have to get through the somewhat intimidating rulebook.

7. PanamaxThere were several heavier euro games released last year that I have not played. I like pick up and deliver games, and the dice action selection system sounds neat. For those reasons of all the heavier 2014 releases I have not played, this is the one that made the list.

I joke with my wife that we do not have war games, we have conflict themed games. This specific game though actually is a conflict themed game. It is set in World War II, and it has less to do with fighting and more to do with supply. This took the old quote "Amateurs talk about tactics, professionals talk about logistics" and made a game out of it. It sounds fascinating. Unfortunately, I do not know anyone who has a copy.

5. AquaSphereMy wife has been on a big Stefan Feld kick, and with a single exception we have liked all of his games that we have played. I know this is a bit heavier than some of our go to Feld games, but it is still one I would like to try.

4. MythotopiaI really like A Few Acres of Snow. I like it less for the theme and more for the deck building mechanics. In some ways, I felt like the Colonial Canadian setting held back the mechanics some. This game takes the core engine of A Few Acres of Snow and strips away the historical chrome. This should mean that a better game was able to be built. I have a strong feeling that I would really like this game.

Just based on the sheer amount of accolades that this game is getting, I feel the need to play it. I also am not yet turned off by the zombie theme, and the impression I get is that this is one of the most thematic zombie games. I am also a little hesitant to play this game, because I have talked to people who have. From their descriptions, I am not sure if I will like this game. It sounds like it has a neat and innovative system (the Crossroads cards) put over the type of co-op game that I really, really do not like. Despite that I have resolved the next time the opportunity arises I will give it a shot.

2. Shadows of Brimstone: City of the AncientsWith the exception of Dark Gothic which is just OK, I have really liked every Flying Frog game that I have played. I was really close to backing this game on kickstarter but the price was too high for the risk. Once again, it is coopearative which makes me a bit hesitant. However, I love the idea of the game being persistent and the leveling up that happens. I feel like that if my wife liked it, this game is probably the closest she will ever get to playing a RPG with me. The problem is that the price tag is still too high to take a random shot on.

I have repeatedly said that the reason why I like Federation Commander so much, is because it makes me feel like I am in the captain's chair. I get a sense that this game would do something similar with how open ended it is. I really love the concept of "here's a spaceship, go fly it." I think I would probably love this game. The biggest obstacle to getting it played (other than I do not have it) is the time commitment.

I was gone for a week in June, but despite being away we still managed to get several games played. Our goal is to make sure we have every game we own played by Gen Con, and we are trying to get as many done as possible before the Gen Con math trade submission period ends on July 14th.

Game Play StatisticsNumber of Recorded Plays: 58Most Played Game: Dice Masters (12 plays)Best New to Me Game:Deus

New Games to PlayNew Games Reviewed in June: 7New Game Reviews in Progress: 1Highest Rated Game this Month: Deus (combined rating of 9.5)New Games Left Unplayed: 9

State of the CollectionNew Games Added: 4 Games Removed: 1Total Number of Games:200I participated in the wargame generosity chain again, but this time I shipped one game and got three. We also bought The Great Heartland Hauling Co. because a local store had it on clearance. Last year we sold several games at Gen Con to get back under 200, it took us most of a year but we reached the number again. I think this will mean my wife will want us to sell games off again.